As the UK cuts aid, how can it make the most of a smaller budget? @rglenner.bsky.social and @siddhharia.bsky.social make the case for “radical simplification.” That means focusing where impact is greatest—innovation, evidence-based programs, and the poorest countries. https://go.cgdev.org/4m7fZuL

The G20 High Level Independent Panel also recommends that MDBs enable at-risk financing for advance purchases of medical countermeasures during pandemics. nam.edu/pandemic-fin...

The World Bank board is discussing at-risk financing this week. Are MDBs ready to help countries borrow for vaccines and therapeutics before regulatory approval during the next pandemic? @rglenner.bsky.social and Masyita Crystallin argue they must. www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/m...

Listen to my colleagues Sarrin Chethik and Chris Snyder on the freakonomics podcast. They’ve been thinking hard about designing incentives for finding new uses for off-patent drugs.

Novel treatments could come from old drugs💊 if we create incentives to test them for new diseases. The latest @freakonomics.bsky.social featured our work on generic drug repurposing. Super proud of this team: Chris Snyder + Sarrin Chethik @uchi-msa.bsky.social! 🎧 freakonomics.com/podcast/are-...

Looking forward to speaking on this panel next week - so much shifting so quickly at the foreign office at the moment and there's a big and (I think) v interesting convo in there about how we scrutinise aid spend.

My co-author Leah R. Rosenzweig wrote a blog post about a social media experiment we ran on vaccine hesitancy in Kenya and Nigeria www.cgdev.org/blog/us-just...

Pull mechanisms like advance market commitments and prizes can drive innovation—but how large should the incentive be? A new Pull Incentive Sizing Tool from the Market Shaping Accelerator offers a practical way to translate uncertainty: https://go.cgdev.org/4bjRl6L

Big new blogpost! My guide to data visualization, which includes a very long table of contents, tons of charts, and more. --> Why data visualization matters and how to make charts more effective, clear, transparent, and sometimes, beautiful. www.scientificdiscovery.dev/p/salonis-gu...

Newly-approved vaccines are safe & effective, but are they reaching as many people, saving as many lives, & stretching budgets as far as possible? 💉 Witold Więcek & @jmadankeller.bsky.social argue that optimizing vaccine doses is a high-impact opportunity ⬇️ https://go.cgdev.org/3WZwCgt

Importantly, making unfair dismissal a "Day One" right would likely have been counterproductive for workers. It would induce firms not to "take a chance" on candidates who seem risky or have unusual profiles. ...

*external validity voice* actually it could just be that nairobi is fucking awesome

The World Bank plans to “operationally align” its research arm. But the changes could undermine its ability to deliver rigorous, independent analysis free from client or internal pressure. More from @charlesjkenny.bsky.social and @eeshani.bsky.social ⬇️ https://go.cgdev.org/43vNSgK

New G20 High Level Independent Panel on pandemic preparedness out. Recommendation 3: Enabling at-risk financing for low and middle income countries is crucial to ensuring low and middle income countries get the vaccines and therapeutics they need during the next outbreak

MSA is hiring: centerforglobaldevelopment.applytojob.com/apply/oYXbeB... @uchi-msa.bsky.social @cgdev.org

"The Big Returns to Early Investments in Foundational Literacy and Numeracy" Join us in DC (or online) Oct 17 2025 to discuss the latest evidence with Jishnu Das, Jo Bourne, Jennifer Swift-Morgan, @daveevansphd.bsky.social www.cgdev.org/event/big-re...

Forthcoming article "Safe Spaces for Teenage Girls in a Time of Crisis" by Oriana Bandiera, Niklas Buehren, @markusgold.bsky.social Imran Rasul and Andrea Smurra @eeanews.bsky.social doi.org/10.1093/jeea...

The PRO Initiative, hosted by CGD, has reached a major milestone: every first-wave urgent, high-impact project is funded for 12 more months, sustaining life-saving aid for 41M people in 30+ countries. See what's next: https://bit.ly/46DY5bQ

Totally proud of the PRO team, making this announcement in NYC this morning. Excellent to hear from Helen Keller International what a difference this was making on the ground. Go PRO!

Nice article on returns to R&D in MIT Tech Review, ft. our own @mattsclancy.bsky.social www.technologyreview.com/2025/09/17/...

Sept 24 ➡️ Join @rglenner.bsky.social & fellow leaders for @financialtimes.com's Race for Global Food Security. Experts will explore how the private sector and partnerships can drive innovation towards long-term solutions to the challenge of global food security. Register!⬇️ https://bit.ly/46GDVPA

Last week at a team retreat at @cgdev.org, we were recapping examples of impact from CGD education work, and at some point someone asked: But can you name an impact NOT linked to Justin? (I promise we had some, but the fact that someone had to ask the question points to Justin's outsized impact.)

"Protect children, not just animals, from lead exposure" www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

An Advance Market Commitment (AMC) for neonatal sepsis diagnostics could save newborn lives and curb antibiotic resistance. But how should such an AMC actually work? And how will we get it off the ground? 🧵

Cutting US funding for @gavi.org which leads on global vaccination efforts is incredibly shortsighted and misguided @charlesjkenny.bsky.social & I argued why in this @cgdev.org blog 👇 www.cgdev.org/blog/why-tru...

In the first of a 3 part series from @cgdev.org and @uchi-msa.bsky.social, experts discuss investing in rapid diagnostics for neonatal sepsis to fight AMR—and how an Advance Market Commitment could help unlock life-saving innovation. Read on ⬇️ www.cgdev.org/blog/case-pr...

In collaboration with @CGDev, we’re establishing a working group to design an Advance Market Commitment (AMC) for a rapid diagnostic for neonatal sepsis—a devastating and neglected cause of child mortality. Here’s why this is our focus. 🧵👇

📖 Learn more in our blog post—the first in a new series on how an AMC could unlock progress on this critical front: www.cgdev.org/blog/case-pr... @siddhharia.bsky.social @rrolapp.bsky.social @cgdev.org

Neonatal sepsis kills ~500k newborns every year, yet fast and accurate diagnostics remain unavailable. Our new 3-post series with @CGDev unpacks the problem—and shows how an Advance Market Commitment (AMC) could unlock life-saving innovation. 🧵👇

Developing a rapid diagnostic could save thousands of newborn lives and slow AMR. Read the full series to learn more: www.cgdev.org/blog/case-pr... @siddhharia.bsky.social @cgdev.org @rrolapp.bsky.social

With USAID funding terminated, thousands of life-saving programs have lost billions. To help fill the gap, the Project Resource Optimization (PRO) team—hosted by @cgdev.org—is mobilizing private funding to keep cost-effective, high-impact efforts alive: www.cgdev.org/blog/buildin...

@dylanmatt.bsky.social covers how the team—Jim O’Neill, Michael Kremer, @rglenner.bsky.social, Chris Snyder, Akhil Bansal, @siddhharia.bsky.social (and more!)—is working to tackle this problem in @voxdotcom.bsky.social: www.vox.com/future-perfe...

Rachel Glennerster calls for reforming foreign aid

Given major foreign aid cuts around the globe, we must urgently get the most out of shrinking budgets. @rglenner.bsky.social & @siddhharia.bsky.social argue it’s time for radical simplification—prioritizing a few simple, cost-effective, large-scale interventions. More: bit.ly/42EnPCP

This is brilliantly put by Rachel and @siddhharia.bsky.social , aid should stop trying to do everything and just do what it does best

As I meet people from aid agencies around the world this week I will be making the case for a radical simplification in how we do aid: fewer countries, fewer projects, radically simpler programs. It was key takeaway from my time in govt. Read why. www.cgdev.org/blog/radical...